His government introduced fuel tax hikes to encourage drivers to embrace less-polluting cars, touching a nerve with voters in rural areas in particular as the extra cost began to bite in October when global oil prices surged.

This was stated by Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas director Vijay Sharma and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation marketing director S Jeyakrishnan while holding a road show for the stake holders in Chandigarh

Rouhani's remarks, in a meeting with visiting Iraqi President Barham Salih, came about two weeks after the United States restored sanctions targeting Iran's key oil industry as well as its banking and transportation sectors